H.S. FOOTBALL: Cohasset wants another title run

After losing in the state final last year, Cohasset is shooting to return to the title game and bring back the trophy.

Austin GaquinThe Patriot Ledger

COHASSET – The road back to the top is a long one. For the Cohasset High football team, it began Monday.

The Skippers finished 11-2 last fall, crafting their seventh straight winning season. Along the way they captured the South Shore League Small Division, won the Division 6 South sectional crown in the new playoff format, and made it all the way to the Div. 6 state final, losing to Littleton, 52-35, at Gillette Stadium.

After graduating 20 seniors from last season’s squad, including Ledger All-Scholastic quarterback Chris Haggerty (who owns almost all of the program’s career passing records) and offensive lineman Mickey Barry (the reigning South Shore Small MVP), Cohasset launches this year’s title run with a fresh core of veteran leaders.

“The returning juniors and seniors will make up the nucleus of this team,” coach Pete Afanasiw said as the Skippers went through the first day of tryouts. “And they’re really excited to get their chance to finish what we started last year and continue the success that this program has had.”

If Cohasset is going to replace the production of an offense which averaged 33.2 points in five playoff games last season, seniors such as running back Cole Kissick, linebacker Matt Froio, and two-way player Tim Gillis must step up this fall.

Afanasiw has confidence that they will.

“Kissick is coming off a monster season last year,” Afanasiw said of the returning Ledger All-Scholastic, who rushed for 1,468 yards and scored 18 touchdowns in 2013. “Matt Froio is going to be somebody who solidifies the troops on defense and keeps everybody centered and focused. And Tim Gillis is going to bring a whole different element to both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.”

Despite Cohasset High’s small size relative to its rivals (approximately 100 students per grade level), the Skippers’ athletics programs tend to thrive. In the 2013-14 school year, the boys’ basketball team finished atop the South Shore League with a 15-1 record, and the boys’ lacrosse squad won the Div. 3 state title.

Many Cohasset football players also suit up for those teams, so the Skippers are used to winning.

“Our kids really don’t have offseasons,” said Afanasiw, who is entering his ninth season as head coach. “Conservatively speaking, 85 percent of these kids play at least two sports. And those teams are good. So I don’t have to waste time conditioning them, because they come into camp in shape. And that’s always good.”

Along with athleticism, experience should be a strength for the Skippers this fall.

“Even though we graduated 20 seniors, I think experience will resonate with this team,” said Afanasiw. “A lot of these kids, even if they weren’t starters, saw ample playing time last year in crucial situations. Just knowing the pressures (of those situations) will help. And knowing what it’s like to play (in the postseason) will inspire these kids to work hard so we can get back there.”

In the competitive South Shore Small, Cohasset’s journey to a second consecutive sectional championship will not be without tough tests. All season long, Hull, Monomoy, Mashpee, and Carver will visualize Cohasset with a target attached to its back.

The Skippers, who open Sept. 5 at Norwell, will surely feel pressure to carry last season’s momentum into this one. They’ll miss last year’s stars. They’ll run into stiff competition.

But on Monday everyone was just happy to be playing football again.

“Oh, gosh, we’re absolutely excited to be back!” exclaimed Afanasiw. “It’s exciting to come back onto the field. My tenure here in Cohasset has been a lot of fun. It’s going to be a lot of fun again this year. It never gets old.”